One of the recognized breakthroughs in the digital world is eBay's creation of a new kind of market, based on trust, and sustained through their "feedback" system. Every seller and every buyer is open to a rating on every transaction. Positive ratings build trust in the digital marketplace, and supposedly boost sales. Negative ratings depress that trust, and enough of them would lead to a serious reduction in sales.
Today may be the first time that negative eBay feedback has been used to raise suspicion in a murder case. In Hopkington, Massachusetts, the bodies of a young wife and her infant daughter were found over the weekend. The police would like to talk with the husband, who has flown to London. Massachusetts detectives have traveled to Scotland Yard to seek England's help in locating him.
One reason he is " a person if interest" is a recent plunge in the ratings for his eBay business.
Today's Boston Globe
"Neil Entwistle had been accused in recent weeks of failing to deliver software to customers who ordered software from him through eBay. An eBay spokesman, Hani Durzy, said yesterday that Neil Entwistle had registered a business with eBay in England in April 2004, under the name srpublications, Until January, the company was receiving positive feedback, as shown on eBay's feedback site, which as recently as Dec. 27 posted customers' comments such as: ''Great communication. A pleasure to do business with." In a comment posted Dec. 15, a user wrote: ''Good service. Quick delivery. Thanks."
But after the start of the new year, the feedback took a turn. Beginning Jan. 6, srpublications received a series of 16 customers' complaints, with many customers warning that they never received materials for their money and could not get the company to respond. ''Complete Scam, eBay users beware! Absolutely nothing received, " wrote one person. Some of the complaints posted online were directed at Rachel Entwistle, since sales were apparently made in her name.
''What you can see is someone who, at least within the eBay universe, was acting as a good eBay citizen, until all of a sudden there was a period of 48 hours of bad feedback," Durzy said.
But after the start of the new year, the feedback took a turn. Beginning Jan. 6, srpublications received a series of 16 customers' complaints, with many customers warning that they never received materials for their money and could not get the company to respond. ''Complete Scam, eBay users beware! Absolutely nothing received, " wrote one person. Some of the complaints posted online were directed at Rachel Entwistle, since sales were apparently made in her name.
''What you can see is someone who, at least within the eBay universe, was acting as a good eBay citizen, until all of a sudden there was a period of 48 hours of bad feedback," Durzy said.
No one is claiming that Entwistle is a suspect, but the mere fact that his eBay feedback is mentioned in this story blurs a cultural line and adds a whole new meaning to a person's online reputation.
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